The Largest Brokerage Firms
KEY POINTS
- Top brokerage firms: Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, and J.P. Morgan manage trillions in assets and millions of accounts.
- Schwab's leading AUM: Charles Schwab is the largest with $9.57 trillion in assets under management as of July 2024.
- Fidelity leads accounts: Fidelity has the most active brokerage accounts with 51.5 million.
The largest brokerage firms are household names: Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity, Bank of America (specifically Merrill Lynch), and J.P. Morgan each manages trillions of assets and millions of accounts.
Charles Schwab has $9.6 trillion assets under management (AUM) as of July 2024. Vanguard follows closely with $9.3 trillion in AUM.
The largest brokerage firms have seen solid AUM growth over the past year, driven by strong market returns and an increase in users.
The largest brokerage firms by assets under management
| Platform | Assets under management, 2023 (trillions) | AUM, 2024 (trillion) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Schwab | $8.50 | $9.57 | 13% |
| Vanguard | $8.60 | $9.30 | 8% |
| Fidelity | $4.90 | $5.50 | 12% |
| J.P. Morgan | $2.90 | $3.30 | 14% |
| Bank of America/Merrill Lynch | $1.30 | $1.80 | 38% |
| Morgan Stanley | $1.50 | $1.51 | 1% |
| Coinbase | $0.20 | $0.27 | 37% |
| Robinhood | $0.10 | $0.15 | 42% |
| Ally Invest | $0.01 | $0.02 | 25% |
Charles Schwab is the largest brokerage firm by AUM, managing $9.57 trillion in assets as of the end of May 2024. Vanguard is the only other firm with AUM close to Schwab's.
All of the largest brokerages saw growth over the first half of 2024, with smaller firms like Robinhood and Coinbase posting some of the most impressive numbers.
The largest brokerage firms by active brokerage accounts
| Platform | Active brokerage accounts, Q4 2023 (millions) | Active brokerage accounts, 2024 (millions) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fidelity | 38.7 | 51.5 | 9% |
| Schwab | 34.8 | 35.7 | 2% |
| Robinhood | 23.4 | 24.2 | 92% |
| Coinbase | 7.0 | 8.2 | (18%) |
| Bank of America/Merrill Lynch | 3.8 | 3.9 | 12% |
| Ally Invest | 0.5 | 0.529 | 0% |
Fidelity boasts the most active brokerage accounts among major firms for which data is available, with 51.5 million. Stock brokerages saw a lift in the first half of 2024 as the market delivered positive returns. Coinbase struggled, however, as volatility defined crypto trading.
Charles Schwab
- Assets under management: $9.57 trillion
- Total active brokerage accounts: 35.7 million
Founded in 1971, Charles Schwab introduced the concept of the discount brokerage and has risen to be the largest stock brokerage firm around. It offers a variety of financial products and services, including stock trading, individual retirement accounts, and banking.
Charles Schwab is most famous as a full-service brokerage. It has a high-quality web platform and app with quite a few investment options. The firm has grown considerably since 2023, in large part because it finalized the acquisition of TD Ameritrade that year, a popular online broker.
In addition to investment services, Charles Schwab offers a popular checking account product with unlimited ATM fee rebates worldwide and no foreign transaction fees.
Learn more: Charles Schwab Review
Vanguard
- Assets under management: $9.3 trillion
- Total investors: Over 50 million
Vanguard is one of the most popular full-service stock brokerages for investing in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Although investors primarily use it for index fund investing and not for everyday stock trading, it manages more assets and has more clients than most of its competitors.
Learn more: Vanguard Review
Fidelity
- Assets under management: $5.5 trillion
- Total active brokerage accounts: 51.5 million
Fidelity is a full-service broker that has a wide selection of mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Other notable features of this broker are access to international markets and fractional share investing. Since its founding in 1946, Fidelity has grown to become the largest provider of 401(k) retirement savings plans in the United States.
Learn more: Fidelity Review
J.P. Morgan
- Assets under management: $3.3 trillion
J.P. Morgan is the full-service brokerage offered by Chase. Clients can open a self-directed brokerage account to trade on their own, work with a dedicated advisor, or invest using a robo-advisor. The broker offers zero-commission trading and a $0 minimum on self-directed accounts (automated accounts have a $500 minimum).
Those who qualify for Chase Private Client can receive a J.P. Morgan Private Client Advisor to build an investment portfolio that fits their individual needs. Chase Private Client members also gain access to investment accounts for retirement and education expenses, as well as J.P. Morgan industry research and insights.
Learn more: J.P. Morgan Review
Edward Jones
- Assets under management: $2.1 trillion
- Total clients: Over 8 million
Edward Jones is a full-service financial services company that offers commission-based brokerage accounts in addition to other types of accounts.
Founded in 1922, Edward Jones emphasizes building relationships between clients and financial advisors. The company has nearly 15,000 offices in the United States staffed by close to 19,000 financial advisors.
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
- Assets under management: $1.8 trillion
- Total active brokerage accounts: 3.9 million
Bank of America is a financial services company offering banking, credit cards, loans, and investment products. In 2009, Bank of America acquired investment company Merrill Lynch.
Merrill Lynch serves as the main brokerage option through Bank of America. Clients have the option of Merrill Edge for self-directed investing and Merrill Guided Investing for professional guidance. For clients with substantial funds ($10 million or more), Bank of America also offers Bank of America Private Bank.
Learn more: Merrill Edge Review
Robinhood
- Total customer assets: $100 billion
- Total active brokerage accounts: 24.2 million
Although it hasn't been around long, Robinhood has had a huge impact on the investment industry. It was founded in 2013 and made waves for offering zero-commission trading.
That may have seemed like a gimmick at the time, but at this point it's become the industry norm. Robinhood also made waves in January 2018 when it started listing cryptocurrency.
Learn more: Robinhood Review
Ally Invest
- Assets under management: $16 billion
- Total active brokerage accounts: 529,000
Ally Invest is the trading platform offered by Ally Financial. It originally became popular as a discount brokerage option, and it now offers commission-free trading to match its major competitors. This broker provides self-directed accounts, IRAs, and robo-portfolio services.
Learn more: Ally Invest Review
FAQs
Brokerages facilitate transactions between parties. Stock brokers arrange transactions between buyers and sellers of securities.
Charles Schwab is the largest brokerage firm in the United States, with $9.57 trillion in assets under management.
The four biggest stock brokerage firms in the United States are Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity, and J.P. Morgan.
Charles Schwab is larger than Fidelity when measured by AUM, $9.57 trillion to $5.5 trillion. More people trade through Fidelity, however. The company has 51.5 million active brokerage accounts compared to Schwab's 35.7 million.
The Ascent provides in-depth reviews of the best stock brokers as determined by our methodology.
Sources
- Ally Invest (2024). "Ally Financial Inc. 2Q 2024 Earnings Review."
- Bank of America (2024). "Bank of America 2Q24 Financial Results."
- Charles Schwab (2024). "Schwab Reports Monthly Activity Highlights."
- Coinbase (2024). Form "10-Q."
- Edward Jones (2024). "Media Kit."
- Fidelity (2024). "About."
- JP Morgan Chase & Co. (2024). "2Q24 Financial Results."
- Morgan Stanley. "About Morgan Stanley Investment Management."
- Robinhood (2024). "Investor Relations."
Our Research Expert
Jack Caporal is the Research Director for The Motley Fool and The Motley Fool Ascent.
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